Ken Lingenfelter Corvette Collection - Ken's Corvettes

A glimpse inside the stunning collection of a true Corvette enthusiast

There's not a car enthusiast out there who hasn't conjured up his dream collection, weighing which models are most important and which ones would be acquired first. And if you're anything like us, you've probably driven past an empty warehouse or old brick industrial building and thought it would be the perfect location to house that collection—with vintage neon signs and dealership equipment as the perfect complements.

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A few enthusiasts are fortunate enough to act on their dreams of the ultimate Corvette collection, and Michigan businessman Ken Lingenfelter is one of them. His jaw-dropping automobile collection includes about 150 cars, about half of them Corvettes.

If you've been paying attention (and reading this magazine), you're probably aware that Lingenfelter acquired Lingenfelter Performance Engineering (LPE) a couple of years ago. He is a distant relative of LPE's late founder, John Lingenfelter, but the familial connection had nothing to do with his acquisition of the company. He was an LPE customer and longtime Corvette enthusiast who just happened to have the same name.

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Lingenfelter came from an automotive background—his father was a GM exec who worked for Fisher Body—and though he seemed predisposed to a career in the industry, it was the real-estate business where he found success.

"I was always a car guy and interested in designing them," says Lingenfelter. "Through my father, I participated in a program called the Craftsman's Guild at GM, where we would build future models of existing GM cars. It was a big contest with kids who were 11 and 12 years old, all the way up to 16-year-olds. It was a lot of fun, and I really had a great time with it."

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Lingenfelter's real-estate settlement company was very successful through the property boom that started more than a decade ago. He sold it in 2003, ahead of the market peak, and stayed with the new company for the next five years. It was definitely the right time to be in the business, and, frankly, it paid off, enabling Lingenfelter to indulge his longtime automotive passions.

It was about 20 years ago that he began collecting cars, with the collection growing significantly within the past decade. And though not all of the cars he owns are Corvettes, they're the central component of the collection.

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"I've loved Corvettes ever since I saw the '63 split-window Corvette for the first time," he says. "That car did it for me upside down and backwards. I've always identified with them and almost always have one as a daily driver. In fact, in the summer, my daily driver is a new ZR1. I could get into one of the Lamborghinis or Ferraris [from the collection], but the ZR1 is the car of choice. I really love it."

Inside the Collection
Lingenfelter's collection takes up residence in a rather generic-looking industrial building in an industrial park that could be one of the thousands found throughout the country. At a glance, the place might well package Styrofoam cups, not house 150 mouth-watering collector cars.

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Ken Lingenfelter Corvette Collection - Ken's Corvettes

They don't get much more historical than this: the '55 Duntov EX-87 test mule that recorded a 163-mph top speed, with an engine originally built by Smokey Yunick. The car later served as the test bed for the famed "Duntov" cam.

One of several Callaway cars in the collection is this C4-based Speedster. Only 10 were built as a swan song for the RPO B2K twin-turbo program.

Nicolas Cage was the former owner of this '67 427/435 (L71) coupe. Curiously, only 815 cars that year were painted Tuxedo Black, making this example all the more desirable.

The collection contains relatively few "sharks," but one of the nicest is this Donnybrooke Green '70 model. It's 454-powered, with a four-speed, and has only 36,000 original miles. The paint and interior are original, too.

Look closely and you'll see "shark fin" headlamp bezels and other non-production exterior cues on this '54. It's a restored GM Styling concept car, and its other unique features include a prototype steering wheel, center console, and more. It's a one-of-one Corvette.

With 180 produced, Gypsy Red was the second most popular color for the '55 Corvette lineup, with Polo White dominating at 325 units.

This '90 ZR1 was the giveaway car for a Rick Mears/Penske promotion that tied in with his Marlboro Indy racing team. The body kit was designed by Larry Shinoda, and Boyd Coddington designed the wheels. This is the only one like it built, and it has fewer than 600 original miles. VETTE did a brief story on it when it was new, back in a 1991 issue.

This C6 outfitted with Specter's Group 6 body kit is the former subject of a VETTE tech story on installing the fender flares and rear spoiler.

One of the more interesting cars in Lingenfelter's collection is this '76 Greenwood GT. It's one of 22 built, and the original smog-laden small-block was replaced years later with a GM Performance Parts 385hp crate engine.

Simply an American classic: a '57 Fuelie in Cascade Green. Gorgeous.

This Nassau Blue '65 roadster is a 396 car, with a four-speed. It was the subject of a Werner Meier Masterworks restoration, and Lingenfelter believes it's one of the most accurate restos he's encountered.

Only nine C4 Guldstrand Nassau roadsters were built. This is one of them.

The collection includes a couple of these Classic Reflection Coachworks creations that are inspired by the '62 Corvette and based on C5 models. This one was built on a 2003 50th Anniversary chassis and retains that car's unique wheels and interior.

This Pratt & Miller C6RS features a Katech-based engine that is built on a custom, billet-aluminum cylinder block.

This '96 Grand Sport coupe is essentially a new car that was purchased by Corvette Hall of Fame member Fred Gallasch, whose career at GM included the title of assistant brand manager for the Corvette.

Just another 427 '67 in the collection, this one in Rally Red. This roadster boasts the L72 427/400 engine and is unrestored. It's an original air-conditioning car, and is Lingenfelter's favorite classic driver.

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